Impact analysis refers to the ability to evaluate the effect of a proposed change on an existing system. In an SOA environment, where reuse is encouraged and assets often have numerous dependents, the ability to understand the consequences of a change is crucial.

CentraSite enables you to represent the relationships among the objects in your registry using customizable relationship attributes and ad hoc associations. For example, in an asset type that represents a consumer application, you might include a relationship attribute that allows developers to relate consumer applications to the Web services that they consume.

If an asset's relationships have been described using relationship attributes or ad hoc associations, they can be visualized using CentraSite's impact analysis feature. This feature summarizes an asset's relationships in a concise, browsable diagram. Using this display, you can easily locate and examine the objects to which an asset is related and evaluate how change to the asset might affect them.

For more information about defining relationships among assets, see the CentraSite Administrator’s Guide . For more information about viewing the Impact Analysis profile, see the CentraSite User’s Guide .